Expect one more night of frigid cold

Most University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students are bundled up as they head to and from classes along E. Hartford Ave. on campus Tuesday. The coldest weather of the season arrived overnight, and wind-chill indexes are expected to be as low as 25 degrees below zero on Tuesday. Credit: Mike De Sisti

The coldest weather of the season arrived overnight, and a bitter northwest wind will keep wind-chill indexes as low as 25 degrees below zero on Tuesday, leading to a wind-chill advisory until noon, according to WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) meteorologist Scott Steele.

High temperatures Tuesday should reach only 5 degrees in the Milwaukee area, Steele says, before dropping to near zero on Tuesday night.

High temperatures for the rest of the week should rise back into the low 20s by Wednesday, but that's still 5 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year, Steele says.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee police officers checked under freeway overpasses and other spots to find the homeless and urge them to get out of the dangerous cold and stay at a shelter. The United Way of Greater Milwaukee donated $50,000 on Monday to help crowded homeless shelters open overflow centers.

In Superior, temperatures dropped to 20 and 30 below zero Tuesday. The wind made those temperatures feel even lower.

Ashland, Bayfield, Hurley, Washburn and Superior were among school districts telling students to stay home Tuesday. Forecasters say that, with wind chills of 20 below zero and lower, exposed skin can freeze within a minute.

According to the National Weather Service office in Sullivan, the low temperature Tuesday morning in Milwaukee was 5 below, with no snow on the ground. The weather service said it is relatively rare for Milwaukee to reach or go below zero without any snow on the ground.

During the last three years, Milwaukee has reached zero or lower only six times. - twice in 2012, four times in 2011 and none in 2010, each time with at least a trace of snow cover on the ground, the weather service said.

The record low temperature in Milwaukee for Jan. 22 is 22 below in 1885. The coldest high temperature on Jan. 22 is 10 below in 1883, the weather service says.